KEY POINTS:
Feathers are set to fly as the country's biggest burger chain takes on the largest chicken franchise on its own patch - selling chicken.
McDonald's chicken products, frequently sidelined by its flagship beefburgers, will now feature more prominently on its menu with the addition of four new burgers in an open showdown with KFC, the leader in fast-food chicken sales.
The move comes as the American burger giant struggles with flat demand in New Zealand, with newer competitors such as Subway nibbling away at its growth opportunities.
But the master franchisor of KFC in New Zealand, Restaurant Brands, is not chickening out of a scrap.
Chief operating officer Rod de Vries said sales had increased 9 per cent in the past year - an outstanding result in a highly competitive market.
"It is therefore no great surprise that our competitors will try for the same success in our market and challenge our menu offering.
"However, we are confident that KFC will continue to hold the recipe for success in our industry and that consumers will continue to love the secret blend of 11 herbs & spices that Colonel Sanders perfected in 1939.
"That's 69 years KFC has been ahead of the game and we are determined to keep this competitive edge."
But McDonald's Restaurants (NZ) managing director Mark Hawthorne is confident it can rule the roost in three years.
He said the foray into selling more chicken had proved successful in Australia and the United States, where the Golden Arches now sold more chicken than KFC.
The business case was clear, with chicken having overtaken beef as the country's favourite protein.
"The growth in chicken has just been enormous, and I think we need to be doing a better job of capturing more of that market."
The average New Zealander now consumes 36kg of chicken a year compared with 32kg of beef.
Mr Hawthorne said, logically, this would mean half the menu items at McDonald's would have to be chicken. Internationally, the expansion in chicken products has not reduced the demand for beef.
"If we increase our product mix from 30 to 50 per cent chicken, and as long as we don't cannibalise beef that much, that'll be a major shot in the arm for us."
As well as the four new burgers, the existing chicken products will be refined to use only breast fillet, as opposed to a combination of thigh and breast meat. There are also plans to introduce chicken strips and chicken snack wraps next month.
Mr Hawthorne said a direct head-to-head with KFC in fried chicken - as is the case in some markets overseas - was not on the menu.
"But never say never. They're not going into beef yet - we'll have a close look if they go into beef."
* ON THE MENU
McDonald's Best known for: The Big Mac, cheeseburgers, milkshakes and icecream sundaes.
Stores in New Zealand: 141.
Revenue: Not publicly available, but total sales higher than $300 million.
KFC Best known for: Chicken burgers and fried chicken by the bucket.
Stores in New Zealand: 87.
Revenue: 07/08 total stores sales of $199.1 million
